last nite i threw the poly 80/jig on the HF mini just because some other members have had some trouble with theirs on this... i read their directions... then threw them away..

first thing i did was drill the trigger pins... then the trigger holes from the top...

set the fluted bit to 1.25" deep and made all my plunge ins as it should... i had the sweeper running all the time to keep the melted "chips" out of the way.... worked my way around it.... using the outside edges of their jig as my guideplate with the bushing on the bit.

this is overly cautious on my part, but you can always take more out.... putting it back sucks.

i read another member said he tore out the safety pin holding slot so i went real careful around the template and nibbled my way into it... my approach leaves it too shallow and you have to come back & take a little more. im good with that.

ran the HF mini on about 350-400 ish & after about 45 minutes of crawling around on it i had it to the point of taking it out and checking it...

first thing i found was that i had a break thru in the front lower end out to the magwell release section.. not all over but just in 1 spot.. tells me that the casting is not perfectly even.. im a bit concerned over the hammer stop & its impact. so will be keeping an eye on this and dry fire the crap out of it to see if i can create a failure..

casting issues? this was also apparent from the BUBBLES in my FCG area when i got to the bottom. had quite a few of these.

"If they’re going to come here illegally, apply for & receive assistance through a corrupted Government agency encouraging this lawless behavior, work under the table & send billions of dollars each year back to their families in Mexico, while bleeding local economies dry, protest in our streets waving their Mexican flags DEMANDING rights, while I have to press ’1′ for English, then they need to be shipped back to where they came from!" -Chad Miller

to follow up on this poly 80 & my conclusion on it? i didnt need a roto or dremel to clean it up.... actually just took a small triangle file and knocked off the few spots you see in the first pix...

well it works & it fits tight to the upper...

but its definitely a cheapy that is designed for the DIY member who just wants to have one "off the books".

it was super easy & obviously i learned to not trust their red insert to go by... stick with what we always know... go light, go shallow and work your way into it. they do NOT have it perfect to just "clean out the red"...

other note? found out that i was out of LPK's... so had some spare plastic FCG stuff laying around and stuck that in this to test it with. i always use the fancy pins on my AR builds.....

live fire comes after ive got them both done and can just hot swap the lowers.

my overall time for this was around 45 minutes last nite and maybe 15 tops tonite... so an hour is really doable... & once you've done the first one & know what to trust & what not... the time would come on down even more..

ive got several AR jigs, 1 is from Tactical Machining, 1 from Prexis & a couple of these plastic style ones..... none of them work any better than my 80% drill press plate that lets you do this from your drill press on the old style 80%'s...

as long as your FCG holes are accurate theres just not much to it... the rest you can work with.